The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 51

Author: Robson, Charles, ed
Publication date: 1875
Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy
Number of Pages: 770

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owners and managers of the Ottawa Hydraulic Company. | place, and from that time until his death was interested in- There is scarcely a public improvement which has been se- cured in Ottawa with which he has not been identified as an organizer and supporter. Ile has given much attention to the advancement of a popular system of education, and has actively engaged in all works for the substantial welfare of the people of his town and county. IIe has amassed an ample fortune and is liberal in sharing its benefits. His sterling integrity, fine business qualifications, and large public spirit, have secured for him the respect of the entire commu- nity in which he resides.

HEAT, CROSBY F., Lawyer, was born in Venice, Cayuga county, New York, April 11th, 1835. His earlier education was acquired in the common schools and academies of his native county. Bc- lieving that in the West was to be found a wider field for the profitable exercise of enterprise and skill, in 1858 he removed to Quincy, Illinois, where he read law in the office of Messrs. Warren & Wheat. In 1860 he was admitted to the bar, and subsequently removed to Macomb in McDonough county, where in 1862 he opened an office, and since then has been working diligently at his profession. He has acted as Attorney for the city several years, and in 1372 was elected State's Attorney on the Repub- lican ticket. IIe was married February Ist, 1865, to Mary A. Chandler, daughter of Thompson Chandler, of Macomb.

ANNING, JOEL, was born, October 3d, 1793, at Andover, Vermont, where his early boyhood was spent. His father, who was a Baptist clergyman and farmer, reared his family of three sons with such ideas of industry, energy and perseverance, as early developed in him, the oldest, these char- acteristics to a marked degree. He graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York, in the class of 1818. The following year he left home for the "far West," his destina- tion being St. Louis, Missouri. He spent the winter in Buffalo, expecting friends to join him in the spring, but being disappointed in this matter, started alone. After leaving Lake Erie, he travelled on foot the greater portion of the time, following an Indian trail through the wilderness from Fort Wayne to St. Louis. Here he remained for some time studying law with Judge Carr. In the meantime Illinois was admitted into the Union, and he left St. Louis to try his fortune in the new State. Hc settled finally in Brownsville, Jackson county, Illinois, where he practised his profession for a number of years. When the Illinois & Michigan Canal was projected in 1836, he was appointed Secretary of the Board of Canal Commissioners, and went with his family to Chicago, where he remained until 1838. The canal office being removed to Lockport, Illinois, he moved to the latter | influential member of society, and left his impress on all with

and during a great part of the time connected in a business capacity with-the public improvement known as the Illinois & Michigan Canal. Sickness and death entered and sad- dencd his family soon after removing to Lockport; his youngest son died, and in 1843 his oldest and only remain- ing son, John Jay, a promising youth of eighteen years, died suddenly, leaving a stricken father and mother to mourn his loss throughout their after life. During the years of dis- couragement following the financial panic of 1840-1845, he found full use for all the energy, perseverance and economy early learned and practised on a New England farm, his family consisting of an invalid wife, and three young daugh- ters, being entirely dependent on him after the death of the son and brother. His own health then failed, and the future looked gloomy. All the old settlers well remember the stringency of those days, when canal scrip sold for fifty cents on the dollar. He felt sure that the State would ultimately redeem its pledges, and laid aside all that he could save from his salary, hoping for better days. They came at last. The State Legislature passed a relief law, allowing all scrip holders to purchase canal lands and lots with scrip at par, at the original appraisement. He then made some purchases in Chicago. One lot, bought for three hundred dollars, was traversed by a gully, which cost two hundred dollars addi- tional to fill up and grade, and this lot is now covered by the North-Side Galena Depot. Soon after times grew better, work on the canal was resumed, and when the great ditch uniting the waters of the Lakes with those of the Mississippi was finished, the whole country rejoiced, and the settlers, new and old, of Will county, turned out for a joyous celebra- tion. He was a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, holding tenaciously to its doctrines, and following the usages prescribed by its discipline. But in his love for his own, he did not forget the law of Christ to love others, and wherever he saw the image of his Saviour, there he recognized a brother, whether in the lowly cabins of the canal laborers, or among those more highly cultivated. After the death of his wife, November 27th, 1861, he spent most of his time with his daughter, Mrs. Fish, of Joliet, where he died, January 8th, 1869, surrounded by loving friends and without a known enemy. As a citizen he aided to the extent of his ability in all educational and benevolent enterprises, both of church and state, and took a deep interest in what- ever would promote the public good. Simple in his tastes, frugal in his habits, he always had something to relieve the wants of one poorer than himself, giving systematically, con- scientiously, and from principle, and adopting the old Jewish rule of giving a tenth of his income. In his earlier diary is found an entry of his gift for the first year after adopting that rule, but six dollars. In later life he gave away in en- dowing professorships, in the presentation of organs, and in assisting to erect churches and parsonages, more than the third of his whole means. He was an active, stirring, and

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whom he came in contact. He was married in 1823 to Diza Jenkins, daughter of Sol. Jenkins, who at an early day had left North Carolina, where he was connected with various of the leading families, and settled in the free State of Illinois, realizing even at that time the enervating influ- ence of slavery upon the men of the South. As they arrived at manhood, two of his sons, Sol., Jr., and William Jenkins, returned to the South, and became identified with it in in- terests and principles. One son, Alexander M., remained, and took an active part for years in the interests of the State of his adoption, at one time being elected Lieutenant-Gov- ernor of that State. One daughter, Elizabeth Jenkins, mar- ried Dr. John Logan. The three daughters of Joel Manning grew to womanhood and were married as follows : Mary, the eldest, to Henry Fish, of Joliet, Illinois; Cornelia, to Ed- mund Miller, of Waterloo, Iowa; and Jane, to F. G. Salton- stall, of Chicago.

HEELOCK, STILLMAN W., Merchant and Manufacturer, was born in Holland, Erie county, New York, June 18th, 1816. His parents were Chapin Wheelock and Lucy Wheelock. Until he had attained his twentieth year, he remained at home, occupied in farming and agricultural labors, and at irregular intervals attending the daily sessions of a neighboring district school. In the fall of 1836 he removed to Charlton, Worcester county, Massachusetts, where he resided for about eighteen months. While here he was employed in working on a farm, securing in the meantime some further educational advantages, and later, at Brook- field in the same State, served as a temporary employé in a hotel located there. In the following year he returned to Erie county, New York, and attended school during the winter season of 1837. In 1838 he removed to Aurora, New York, and here became the recipient of an academical education. He thence returned to Holland, and in the winter of 1838-1839 was engaged in teaching school. In OY, REV. JOSEPH E., D. D., Superintendent for Northern Illinois and for Indiana, and also Field Superintendent of the American Home Missionary Society, was born in Martinsburg, Ohio, February 7th, 1827. His father, John Roy, was engaged in mercantile life, and came formerly from New Jersey. He received first a common-school education, then an academieal course at Geneseo, Illinois, and closed with a full course at Knox College, where he graduated in 1848. IIe then taught for two years in Lyndon, Illinois, and spent the three subsequent years in the Union Theological Seminary of New York, graduating in 1853. On June 23d, 1853, he was married to Emily S. Hatch, of Farmington, Illinois. He was settled immediately thereafter as a Home Missionary at Brimfield, Illinois, where he remained until 1855. He was then called to the pastorate of Plymouth church of Chicago, where he continued until 1860, when he entered upon May of the latter year he resolved to go West, and, upon arriving in Illinois, settled in Chicago for a brief period. From there he went to St. Charles, on Fox river, thirty miles from Chicago, where he remained during the ensuing twelve years. For the first year he was engaged by the month as an employé in a saw-mill and lumber business, and subse- quently in conjunction with his brother-in-law, S. B. Flint, rented a saw-mill, which he operated for a period of about three years. In 1842 he bought the St. Charles Hotel, and as proprietor and manager controlled its business until 1844, when he disposed of it in trade for a farm. From this date until 1851 he was variously employed, engaging in sundry avocations, and meeting with a fair measure of success in every instance. He then removed to Moline, Rock Island county, and in partnership with C. N. Smedley, under the firm-style of Wheelock & Smedley, purchased a property (the site now occupied by his mill), proeured paper making | the work of the American Home Missionary Society, having

machines from Worcester, Massachusetts, and in August, 1852, established a paper mill. He remained connected in that association with C. N. Smedley for one year, then be- came the owner by purchase of his interest in the concern, and in August, 1853, took into partnership James Fergus, under the style of Wheelock & Fergus. In 1854 he became sole owner of the mill, and operated it alone until 1868, when he sold an one-fifth interest in its business to J. C. Starr, and the firm-style of Wheelock & Co. was adopted. In the same year he torc down the old wooden building and built a new and enlarged stone mill, with more extensive im- proved machincry, which he has still running. At the present time he employs regularly forty hands, and the production per diem is two and a half tons of printing paper, and one ton of wrapping paper, water power being used. In 1868 he purchased an interest in the firm of Candee, Swan & Co., plough manufacturers of Moline, for the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars, and assisted importantly in enlarging the business and extending its scope. In 1870 the firm of Candee, Swan & Co. was organized into a stock company under the name of the " Moline Plough Company," and he was selected to fill its Presidency. In 1874 he resigned that office, but is still interested in the business as Director, being the largest stockholder in the concern. In 1864 he became Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, of which body he has been a member for several years. He has built extensively in Moline, and is the owner also of much valuable real estate in Council Bluffs, Iowa. In his new building at Moline, he has given rooms for the post office, and also for the public library. He is importantly identified with this town in many particulars, has assisted greatly in furthering its interests, and is universally esteemed and re- spected as a public-spirited and useful citizen. He was married in 1842 to Lydia Flint, a former resident of New Hampshire.

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charge of its affairs in Illinois and Indiana, and reaching out even to Virginia, Texas, and through the Territories, with head-quarters at Chicago, and has now been engaged in this work for over fifteen years. It leads him to travel all over this immense territory, reviewing the work of the home missionaries, organizing new churches, and raising money for missionary purposes, and he is consequently one of the most widely known men in the West in ecclesiastical and religious matters, and is held in high esteem for his worth and force of character, as well as for his general executive ability. He is Secretary of the Chicago Theological Semi- nary, and a member of its executive committee, as well as of its board of directors. Mr. Roy has also been for years a well-known correspondent for the religious press, East and West. He is now in the prime of life, possessed of an excel- lent physique, and bids fair to realize many more years of the same active and important work.

as the homes of the people, and not a roof was left over a single family in his church. In this period of distress and despair he was appointed by the Relief Association as Su- perintendent of the whole northern division of the city in dis- pensing its aid, and during that terribic winter he had thirty- three thousand people to provide with food, fuel and clothing. Here his business experience and executive ability came into use, and he proved the right man in the right place, managing matters with eminent success. When this duty ceased he took up the work of soliciting aid for the burned-out churches, travelling through New England and the East. He was very successful, obtaining over forty thousand dollars, of which thirty-three thousand were by the donors specified to be for the help of his own church. Ile then returned and resumed his pastoral labors, in which he has been engaged ever since. The parish erected a chapel at once after the fire, and in four wecks from that event they resumed worship in it. They have now rebuilt their church, a finer edifice than beforc. The congregation has grown steadily throughout his pastorate, being one of the most in- tellectual audiences gathered anywhere in the city. Hc has steadily preached to them Christian liberality, and the fruits of these efforts are seen in the fact that it is one of the most liberal churches in the entire Northwest. It is needless to add that a minister who has gained this influence over the pockets of his people has a deep hold upon their hearts and their esteem. As a speaker he is fluent, interesting and powerful, and his influence has even bcen felt in the political field in this city through a public speech which he delivercd upon the corruption of the ballot, and the vice of the day.

HAMBERLAIN, REV. LEANDER T., Pastor of the New England Church of Chicago, was born in West Brookfield, Massachusetts, September 26th, 1839. His father was Eli Chamberlain, a farmer. His brother is Governor of South Caro- lina. He first attended common schools; then Phillips Academy, at Andover; and then entered Vale in 1859, where he graduated in 1863 with very high honors. He was valedictorian of his class, and received the De Forest prize, which is given to the one " who writes and pronounces an English oration in the best manner; " two honors never before carried off by one and the same man. He was also valedictorian of his class at Andover. While in Yalc College, during the naval victories of the gallant Foote, a number of EATOR, JERMAN SAMUEL, Merchant and Banker, was born in Hancock, Delaware county, New York, November Ist, 1822. His parents were Samuel S. Keator and Jane Ann (Newkirk) Keator. In early life he was the recipient of a common school education. In 1838 he removed with his family to Honcsdale, Wayne county, Pennsylvania, where he entered upon a fresh course of studies in which he was engaged during the ensuing two years. At the expira- tion of that time he secured a situation in a general store in the capacity of clerk, where he remained for a period of five years. In 1844 he resolved to enter into commerce on his own account, and, associated in partnership with Cornelius H. Hornbeck, under the style of Hornbeck & Keator, com- menced a general mercantile business. This connection continued for twelve years, at the end of which period, in 1856, he disposed of his interest in the establishment, and removed to Moline, Rock Island county, Illinois. He had previously, in 1855, resided in that place and met with much success. On his arrival there he purchased, in conjunction with Porter Skinner of Rock Island, a saw-mill, operating it the students made a presentation of a flag to Mrs. Admiral Foote, and Mr. Chamberlain was selected to make the pres- entation speech. Afterward, on his return home, Foote sent for Mr. Chamberlain, had an interview with him, and bc- coming interested in him, advised him to enter the navy. He was desirous of entering the service, and when out of college he enlisted for the war in the navy, but the death of Foote occurred just at this time, and, contrary to his expecta- tions, he was assigned to service in the South Pacific squad- ron, off the west coast of South America, as Naval Paymaster and Storekeeper, in which duty and position he was engaged for three years and a half until the close of the war. He then returned and entered the Theological Seminary at Andover, making up the first year's studies in private, enter- ing the second year, and graduating in 1869. Before he had finished these studies he received a call to the pastorate of the New England (Congregational) Church of Chicago. IIe, upon leaving the seminary, immediately went to Chicago in acceptance of this, and has remained in this pastorate ever since. In the great fire, their beautiful church, acknowl- edged one of the finest in the city, was swept away, as well [ during the following four years. In 1860 he became by

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purchase sole owner and controller of that mill, and has since carried on its business alone. In 1870 the structure was destroyed by fire, but was soon after completely rebuilt and re-established. In the same year in co-operation with John H. Wilson he built a new mill at Rock Island, and in company with him operated it until 1874, when Wilson dis- posed of his share to him, and he transferred to his son the charge of the business, the firm-style being then changed to Keator & Co. The present style of the firm in Moline is Keator & Son, his second son being a member of that branch. The partners are the owners of over twenty-five thousand acres of pine lumber land in the counties of Clark and Chippewa, Wisconsin, and their business relations, of a most extensive and lucrative character, extend over a wide section of the Northwest, and the reputation of their house for uprightness, reliability and enterprise is unexcelled in Illinois or the adjacent States. In 1863 the First National Bank of Moline was established and organized, and he was appointed its first President, filling that position with ability and fidelity until 1865, when he accepted the office of Vice- President, which he still retains. He was married in 1846 to Mary Baldwin, of Green county, New York, who died in 1857. In 1860 he was again married, to Sarah Yelverton, a resident of Rock Island, Illinois.

ENTWORTHI, IION. JOHN, LL.D., one of the oldest and best known citizens of Chicago, was born in Sandwich, Strafford county, New Hampshire, March 5th, IS15. In the winter of IS26-27 he was sent to the academy at Gil- manton; thence to Wolfborough and to New Hampton-all in New Hampshire; and to South Berwick, Maine. In 1832 he entered Dartmouth College, and there graduated in 1836; from which institution he after- ward received the degree of LL.D. Senator Grimes, of Iowa, was a member of the same class. The winter before entering college he taught school at New Hampton ; and for three winters, while in college, he taught school at Hanover, Grafton, and East Lebanon. While at the latter place he was elected a delegate to the County Con- vention, and was made Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions ; and his report and remarks accompanying it were highly commended in the papers of the day, as displaying the true " Jackson grit." IIe was, before and during his college course, a writer for the Jackson news- papers. At his college commencement, Governor Hill, Franklin Pierce, John P. Hale, and Edmund Burke, were upon the stage, and publicly congratulated him upon his performance. In seven years he was the colleague of Messrs. IIale and Burke in Congress, and he was again in Congress when Mr. Pierce was President. Mr. Burke, as editor of the Newport (New Hampshire) Spectator, speak- ing of the exercises, said : "Some of them gave evidence

| of a high order of talent, among whom we would mention that of John Wentworth, of Sandwich." October 3d, 1836, he left his father's home, with one hundred dollars in his pocket, bound for the West. The Governor of his State gave him a letter to some one man in each of the new States and Territories, but these he never had occasion to use. His route was by stage over the Green Mountains ; thence, by the only railroad between Chicago and the East, as far as Utica; thence by canal to Buffalo; and by steamer to Detroit, where he arrived on the 13th. He advertised himself as a school teacher the day after his arrival, and walked into the country as far as Ann Arbor, going and returning by different routes. Meeting with no success, he shipped his trunk to Chicago by boat, and, being footsore, he took stage across the country to Michigan City, where he arrived on the 22d. From thence he travelled on foot to Chicago, around the beach of the lake, there being at that time no other road, where he arrived on the 25th of October, 1836. About this time a New Hampshire acquaintance purchased the Chicago Democrat, and made arrangements with Mr. Wentworth to conduct it while he returned East. This paper was established in 1834, having been the first paper in the city, and there was but one other. The late Daniel Brainard, M. D., was his immediate predecessor in the editorial chair. The paper being a weekly, hc devoted his leisure time to the study of law. His success in the management of the paper soon excited a wish, on the part of the leading politicians of the Northwest, that he should become its sole proprietor. He was quite willing, but had no means to make the purchase : so it was agrecd he should run it, and pay for it from his earnings as fast as he was able. He continued sole editor, publisher, and proprietor until 1861, when, from the pres- sure of other work, he relinquished it. During this period he was ten years in Congress, and for two years Mayor of the city. Ile was, by birth, training, and ances- try, an ardent lover of freedom, and his paper was notably outspoken on all the issues of those times. He made his bed among the types, and became not only editor, but folder, pressman, clerk, and mail boy. By toiling day and night, and denying himself all but the barest necessities, he had, in the summer of 1839, paid for his paper; and was then enabled to revisit his native home. During that visit he delivered his first literary address, at the com- mencement of Norwich (Vermont) University, which re- ceived high commendation from the papers. In the crash of 1837 he claimed then, as he has ever since done, that the specie redemption point should be the measure of paper circulation. In 1840, in answer to the Bay State Associa- tion, at Boston, inviting him to address them, he wrote a letter on the relation of banks to the government, which was extensively circulated in pamphlet form, and received high praise. In 1840 he started the first Democratic daily in the Northwest, and at the same time began a series of public addresses; often on the stand with Douglas in the

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Presidential campaign. At the close of the contest he specie payment, ever received any encouragement from received a complimentary letter from Governor Carlin, for him. He was married in 1843 to Miss Loomis, of Troy, New York. Mr. Wentworth was formerly an efficient Director of the old Galena & Chicago Union Railroad Com- pany; and has also been extensively engaged in agricul- ture, and a member of the Agricultural Board of the State at large. His industry and economy have reaped for him a handsome private fortune, and since his Congressional career he has devoted himself to the care of his great farm of over 2000 acres, and of his extensive personal property. IIe frequently takes a hand in the public questions of the day, and still occupies an important and influential place in the eyes of the public, and among the citizens of Chicago. his services, enclosing a commission as his Aide-de-camp, from which is derived his title as Colonel. He continued his legal studies, and in 1841 entered the law school, at Cambridge, Massachusetts; but his friends soon called him back, lest in his absence some onc else should secure the nomination to Congress. Soon after he was examined and admitted to the bar of Illinois. In 1843 he was elected a member of the Twenty-eighth Congress. IIe was subsequently a member of the Twenty-ninth, Thirticth, Thirty-first, Thirty-third, and Thirty-ninth Congresses. The local legislation required for his district was immense, embracing the getting of maritime jurisdiction extended over the lakes, harbors constructed, light-houses erccted, ports of entry established, United States courts and court houses, marine hospitals, post-office buildings, etc., and all WAN, ROBERT KERR, Merchant, was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, July 19th, IS25. His parents were William Swan and Elizabeth (Kerr) Swan. He was the recipient of a common school education. His earlier years were passed on the paternal farm, where he was engaged in agricultural labor during the summer season, attending school in the winter months. He was thus employed until he had attained his majority, when, in 1846, he became engaged in a saw-mill as an ordinary carpenter or " hand." His family had previously, in 1840, moved to Preble county, Ohio. In 1847 he began to peddle goods of various kinds, and conducting his business with the aid of a wagon, travelled throughout the adjacent regions, continuing thus occupied until 1850. He then removed to Rock Island, Illinois, and was employed to peddle corn-shellers and dry goods through the State, acting subsequently also as collector, etc. In 1852 he associated himself in partnership with Henry W. Candee, under the style of Candee, Swan & Co., for the manufac- ture of pumps, farming mills, hay-racks, lightning rods, etc. In 1865 the partners interested themselves in the fabrication of ploughs, primarily merely introducing those articles into their general trade. In the course of time, and by a gradual and steady progress, the business con- nected with their ploughs became of so extended a nature, that, ultimately, their whole attention became almost neces- sarily confined to that department of their trade alone. In 1870 the business was incorporated into a stock com- pany, under the style of the Moline Plough Company, with the following officers : President, S. W. Wheelock; Vice- President, George W. Stephens; Secretary, Henry W. Candee; Travelling Agent, Robert Kerr Swan. As a salesman and collector he possesses talents of a peculiarly valuable order, and, in the business, has always acted in those capacities with remarkable success. In 1874, S. W. Wheelock resigning, he became the President of his com- pany ; S. W. Lobdell becoming Secretary, in consequence of the resignation of Henry W. Candee. The works and over northern Illinois towns and villages have assumed names that he gave to their original prairie post-offices. The claims of soldiers and their heirs for back pay, bounty, and pensions, in connection with the Mexican war, also formed part of his work. He was the first man from the West to introduce a bill in favor of the bonded warehouse system. In public, as in private life, his motto was, " Liberty and Economy." And during his Congressional career many events and incidents of a strongly character- istic nature occurred. The United States Democratic Review, in an issue of that period, said of him : "Colonel Wentworth's political career has been marked by untiring industry and perseverance; by independence of thought, expression, and action; by a thorough knowledge of human nature; by a moral courage equal to any crisis ; by a self-possession that enables him to avail himself of any chance of success, when on the very threshold of defeat ; and by a steady devotion to what he believes the wishes and interests of those whose representative he is." Ilis two terms of service as Mayor of Chicago, in 1857 and 1860, proved very effective and useful : he each time cleared up the floating debt of the city; reduced the number and salaries of officials; reduced the taxes; de- molished dens of infamy; and introduced steam fire-en- gines, against great opposition. In 1861 he was elected a delegate to the Convention to Revise the Constitution of Illinois. In 1863 he was appointed one of the Board of Police Commissioners, and was thus associated with the military authorities in ferreting out and bringing to justice the conspirators to libcrate the rebel prisoners in Camp Douglas, who also intended to burn the city. In the Thirty- ninth Congress he was on the Committee of Roads and Canals, and that of Ways and Means. Finance has been a life study with him; and how to pay the debt and resume specie payment with the least public distress have always been questions of great interest to him. No measure looking to an increase of public expenditure, repudiation of the debt, or to a postponement of the resumption of

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The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 51

Author: Robson, Charles, ed Publication date: 1875 Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy Number of Pages: 770

Author: Robson, Charles, ed
Publication date: 1875
Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy
Number of Pages: 770